Sociological Theories of Health and Illness

Running head: HEALTH SOCIOLOGY
Sociological theories of health and illness
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1HEALTH SOCIOLOGY
Introduction
Health is most commonly referred to as a state of an individual that involves
complete physical, psychological and social wellbeing. It is not just restricted to absence of
disease in a person. There exists social stratification or some kind of social differentiation in
the community where people are grouped by the society into different socioeconomic
divisions based on their income and occupation, social status and wealth or derive political
and social power (Patton et al., 2016). Moreover, all individuals share a unique relationship
with his/her environment, which in turn plays an essential role in determining the state of
health and wellness of the person. Sociology of health and illness has the primary benefit of
conducting an investigation and examination of the correlation and association between the
society and an individual. Therefore, sociology investigates the influence of social life on
disease rates and subsequent mortality (Weiss & Lonnquist, 2017). Although conduction of a
medical research is beneficial in gaining a sound understanding on health statistics,
sociological explanation of a certain illness would facilitate explanation of factors that make
an individual more likely to suffer from certain diseases.
Conflict theory
The conflict theory is an essential perspective of sociology that lays an emphasis on
the materialistic interpretation of dialectical analysis methods, thereby providing an
explanation for the existing social patterns. Conflict theory generally draw attention to
several power differentials. This refers to the inherent larger influence and power that
certain helping professionals possess, in contrast to the people who are helped by them.
One such power differential is class conflict. Karl Marx was the father of the conflict theory
and established it as an essential component of four different sociological paradigm. A
prime proclamation of this Marxist sociological perspective is that it considers material
production as one of the most central aspects of all human activities (Amzat & Razum,
2014). The conflict theory holds the view that the superstructure of a certain society such
as, its legal, political, health and educational systems are most often formed and governed
by the economic base of the society. There is a growing body of evidence that persons living
in marginalized, downgraded and poor socio-economic societies die earlier and often report
worse health outcomes, in comparison to individuals from the higher socio-economic
communities (Weiss & Lonnquist, 2017). In other words, the presence of social stratification

2HEALTH SOCIOLOGY
or social inequality is responsible for characterizing the quality of health and its associated
services. People belonging to disadvantaged social upbringings are at an increased
likelihood of being diagnosed as ill and receiving insufficient healthcare services.
The conflict approach by Marx also evaluates the labours taken by physicians and
other healthcare professionals over the past decades with the aim of controlling the
exercise of medicine, whilst defining a plethora of social problems as biomedical ones
(Pietromonaco, Uchino & Dunkel Schetter, 2013). The motivation for physicians to do so can
be categorized as both good and evil. On the positive side, the medical practitioners hold
the belief that they are extremely qualified for diagnosing major problems, and providing
immediate treatment to all those individuals who have been diagnosed with the problems.
On the other hand, these practitioners have also accepted that their monetary position in
the society has the capability of improvement, following their success in characterization of
social problems as medical and dominating their treatment (Geist, 2013). One such example
is obstetrical care, where midwives or their equivalents helped pregnant females deliver
babies. Physicians in the nineteenth century claimed their efficacy over midwives and won a
legislation, thereby gaining authority for child delivery. While recognizing the inadequate
training in midwives, they also identified the lucrative feature of obstetrical care. One major
explanation provided by the conflict theory in terms of health and illness is that a design
exists in the society in a way that provides benefit to few people, at the cost of majority. The
prevalence and incidence of chronic diseases are found to increase among people aged 65
years or more, thereby making it mandatory for them to refer to medical institutions, with
the aim of optimal quality of life and wellbeing (Ritzer & Stepnisky, 2017).
At the stage of the production process, health is found to be most affected either
straight in terms of stress-related poor health, injuries and industrial illnesses, or indirectly
via the wider impacts of the process related with commodity production, existing within the
modern society. These production processes generate environmental pollution, whilst the
stages that involve a consumption of the commodities are found to exert long-term health
impacts. These are most commonly related to chemical additives, consumption of processed
foods, and car accidents. Furthermore, according to this theory, health and illness are
governed at their stages of distribution. Wealth and income are therefore considered major
determinants of the standard of living. This in turn controls the place where the people live,